0 Joko Renews Pledge to Protect Poor Jakartans

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo has renewed his commitment to protecting lower-income residents, including street vendors, traditional market traders and victims of land clearance projects, whose complaints have piled up at the city’s Legal Aid Institute. The governor vowed to pay closer attention to the filed complaints, saying that the poor are also Indonesian citizens and must be protected under the Constitution. 

“People of the lower strata such as sidewalk vendors [and] the marginalized segments must now become the focus of our attention because we must protect them,” Joko said during a visit to the headquarters of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) in Central Jakarta over the weekend. While there, Joko met with Adnan Buyung Nasution, the founder of Indonesia’s Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI). Adnan said his organization would partner with the municipal government to ensure that the poor would no longer receive unfair treatment in economic and social projects that affect their livelihoods. 

“We will become more active in this to ensure we become a close partner of the Jakarta government, while extending help in any form in the framework of developing a just and civilized society,” said Adnan, a noted lawyer and former presidential adviser. LBH and YLBHI will thoroughly study the governor’s plans on issues affecting the poor before determining the kind of legal assistance it can provide in the coming year, Adnan said. Before Joko took office, LBH had already noted that the city government was the biggest violator of residents’ human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. 

The city government was also to blame for causing many residents to lose their land, houses and even sources of income via policies of the former administration that were not pro-poor, according to LBH. Joko said that reports like these prompted him to meet directly with Adnan to exchange views and synchronize a strategy for overcoming the problems. Another reason Joko sought Adnan’s input was because he heard that the lawyer had for many years fought to defend the oppressed, the poor and even political dissidents, he said. By combining their efforts, he hoped for a better result. 

For many years Jakarta’s poor, including street vendors, traditional market traders and victims of land clearance projects, have encountered bureaucratic, legislative and judicial obstacles to fulfilling their rights. The governor’s attention has been gladly received by advocates, with many hoping for a total change in the relevant government policies.

source : the jakarta globe